Old China Hands Lunch 6 September 2024

Bye bye summer

Our Old China Hands Lunch 6 September 2024 had 27 participants to celebrate the end of summer. Still a lot of people busy.
The menu (see some in the pics):
– tomato stuffed with fish salad OR cooked ham roll stuffed with Russian potato salad OR fresh daily soup
– farmer’s pork sausage with onion sauce served with red cabbage and fried potatoes OR chicken cordon bleu served with daily vegetables and pan-fried potatoes OR pan-fried snapper Meunière served with daily vegetables and boiled potatoes
– daily dessert

As always all enjoyed the food and lively conversation!
The next lunch is on 4 October, yes in the “Golden Week”, so no excuse you need to work!

The chef has to check it

Renaat Morel regularly has to check the quality of the dishes, what a job!

But it also helps Susan to shoot her Douyin clips.

A customer returns

A Dutch lady, Maaike, was in Morel’s on 11 April 2000 while pregnant with her son. Her husband got a speed lesson from Renaat to make a nice steak, so he could spoil his wife.

On 20 September 2024 she came back to the restaurant with the son who said “I was here before!” (in his mother belly!). Another super-tall Dutch boy!

Old China Hands Lunch 5 July 2024

Summer is here

We were worried about a low turnout for the Old China Hands Lunch 5 July 2024 but we still had 31 participants, Many people start leaving Beijing for their holidays, next lunch 2 August might be a challenge, also being the hottest week normally…
Renaat was away but still kept an eye on us through the CCTV system… Susan made sure all went well.

The menu was great as usual. See some pics of the dishes. The choice:

  • pancake stuffed with ham & mushroom in cheese sauce OR Monaco eggs salad OR Morel’s chef salad (ham, blue cheese, pan-fried chicken, beef on lettuce OR fresh daily soup
  • veal sausage with curry sauce served with salad and Belgian frites OR sliced cold roast beef served with potatoes and mixed salad OR red snapper Provençale style served with daily vegetables and mashed potatoes
  • fresh daily dessert

A great loss

One of our regular OCH has passed away. Peter Hogg was a real gentleman and loved by all. We often talked about the Aussie Bar he supported, later closed due to COVID. RIP my friend, we are so saddened by the loss.

See two pictures of Peter attending our OCH, June and September 2023.
Read more on this Facebook page. You can leave there your condolences.
Camilla Adele wrote:

“On Wednesday 26th June, Daddy died. We have few words to describe the last six months since his fall in Beijing although have so much gratitude and love for all who supported him and us through those dark days. Through it all he showed such tenacity. Since his return in April to the UK whilst he remained in hospital, he regained his twinkling smile, love of puddings, reuniting with friends & spending time with family, and most importantly in spite of everything he was content.
Daddy was easily spotted in a crowd due to his love of colourful clothes, flamboyant eyebrows, loud hearty laugh and ability to respond to any situation with a silly face. He was often the first on a dance floor, generous to a fault with a wry sarcastic sense of humour! With friends from around the world he was as international as he was a true English gentleman.
A supporter and confidant to us and so many others and in turn an amazing father, friend, colleague, manager, and mentor.  He is so very loved, and so very missed. We are so thankful for all the many adventures we had together. He is reunited with his parents and friends who have gone before and we hope he is up there dancing away.”

Luxembourg National Day in Beijing

Many memories

On 27 June 2024 I had the pleasure to attend the Luxembourg National Day in Beijing, in the garden of the ambassador’s residence. Always special for me as I have many souvenirs of the early eighties when I was a close friend of the first Luxembourg ambassador, Carlo Ketter, and his lovely wife. We were both living in the Beijing Hotel and we met many times. I also helped a bit with advice when he was dealing with the challenges to fix the old building, said to be the former Pakistan embassy. It is located in a hutong, the only diplomatic building to be in the old city as far as I know. The small buildings at the entrance served as the embassy in the eighties, later the embassy moved to a modern office building on gongti bei lu.
The building is old but charming and has a beautiful garden.
I was also close to the first secretary of the embassy, Dory Schmitz. Many memories of the eighties in Beijing…

A sumptuous buffet

Schindler’s did the catering and offered a wide choice of goodies to the far over 300 invited guests. This time the weather was not that hot and bearable…

Nice to meet some fellow Rotarians as well as our Belgian ambassador. Also met again our Belgian friend from Arcelor Mittal.
A Chinese Vice Minister attended the reception.

The food

You can watch here a short video showing the event with a view on some of the dishes. There were also stands with ice cream and of course drinks. (Need VPN in China)
I have been several times to Schindler’s Tankstelle in Beijing, recommended!

This is the Sanlitun restaurant. Schindler has another new and big location at the south gate of Ritan Park. They do a lot of catering.

Old China Hands lunch 7 June 2024

Good attendance

Despite the heavy rain the Old China Hands lunch 7 June 2024 scored a total of 34 attendants, old friends and new faces. As usual lively chat over good food.

See here the impressive menu, see most of the dishes in the pictures:

  • Russian egg salad OR salad Niçoise OR fresh daily soup
  • pork piccata Provencal style served with grilled tomato and pan fried potatoes OR thin sliced beef tenderloin with wine merchant sauce served with market vegetables and Belgian frites OR pan fried snapper with mustard sauce served with daily vegetables and mashed potatoes
  • daily dessert

Included: one drink and coffee or tea.

Focus of the month

The focus is this time the incredible performance of the Morel team during the Official Opening of the New Belgian Embassy on 1 June.
The team: Renaat, me, Gordon, Miriam, Corinne and Sophie.

From 1 pm till late night we served Belgian fries in the afternoon to some 2,000 people and Belgian fries with Belgian Beef Stew and Pork Meat Balls in the evening to some 500 people.
We served 2,500 people using 252 Kg of fries, many liters of ketchup, mayonnaise and sauce andalouse. That makes like 100 g of fries per portion.
Sauce andalouse is a Belgian condiment commonly served with Belgian fries. The sauce is also popular and widely used throughout France and Luxembourg. It consists of mayonnaise, tomato paste, and peppers, such as pimientos or roasted bell peppers.

We were exhausted but it was a great and successful experience. Our team while small was extremely efficient!

Belgian Beer in Beijing is updated

Updated list and pics

My Page of Belgian Beer in Beijing is updated, more pics and the list now counts 220 different beer bottles.

Morel’s Restaurant and Café

We can say that Morel’s is our “stamcafé” in Beijing. Besides having great food it is also the place for friends to meet, chat and drink.
“Stamcafé” can be translated as “favorite bar or pub / habitual hound” and “Stammtisch” in German.
Elke Vlaming zou verplicht een stamcafé moeten hebben”: “Each Flemish person should forcibly have a stamcafé”

An interesting article about our beer culture: “5 September 2018 – Beer-mad Belgium moves to save historic drinking dens” – China Daily.
“Belgians are famous for taking their beer seriously, but authorities are now moving to preserve some of the historic cafes where drinkers have been quaffing since the early 20th century.
In the heart of the village of Alsemberg, in the Dutch-speaking Flemish Brabant region, south of Brussels, the PastaCafe is one of those that has best kept its 1920s and 1930s decor.”

With my friend Renaat Morel we have been trying out Orval, Gouden Carolus and Westvleteren. And many more.